Third-Person POV

Iroko had met with Itsuki in an empty corridor. The second match of the next half of the Prelims had already started but Itsuki did not seem to care if it would be one of his teammates fighting and Iroko could not see a reason to tell him beyond that.

The atmosphere was surprisingly tense, especially with Itsuki whose ghostly grey eyes did not leave Iroko. He also noticed that the side of Itsuki's face where Yuura had punched him was now bruised.

"So, uh, you wanted to talk?" Iroko began.

"Yes, but first I wanted to make sure you don't bear any hatred towards me for defeating your friend."

Iroko looked away. "No, it was a tournament match, and you're fighting to win so I can't hold it against you. Not to mention I probably would have done the same even if he was my teammate."

"Okay then, thanks for understanding..." His eyes narrowed. "But Iroko, you're training under Sasuke Uchiha, aren't you?"

He gasped inwardly as a memory was triggered.

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"By the way, people can't know you're training under me," said Sasuke.

Iroko paused his gathering of lightning chakra and looked him with surprise. "Huh? Why not?"

"I'm what you would call.. popular--"

"Yeah, because of the Ninja War, right? But what's that got to do with anything?"

"Listen. It's for your own safety. Who have you told already?"

"Just my older sister."

"Then make sure she doesn't tell anyone else either. The less people know the better."

"Uh, sure.."

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But then, how did Itsuki find out?! Iroko was so dumbfounded he had nothing to say.

"I'll take your silence as a yes," Itsuki continued. "If you're wondering how I had managed to find out there were two clues that had eventually lead to my guessing: The first was that during my first encounter of you, after I had left the perpetrator in your hands, I had turned around and seen him there with you."

He mentally slapped himself. Of course, I should've known!! "And the other one?"

"The second was when during your match you had used a jutsu that looked a lot like the Chidori. Am I wrong?"

"I was willing to overlook the first clue and not jump to conclusions, but after I had seen the Chidori, I felt it had to be the case."

Ah, dammit, I had thought he might have just tried to latch onto unlikely hints but those were two dead giveaways!! Sorry, Sasuke-sensei!

"Okay, say you were right, what then?" Iroko asked. "Why does it matter so much to you that you would drag me into an empty corridor to talk?" The latter half was his thought process.

Suddenly his eyes had sharpened. His expression before had been sincere but well-meaning however now he was earnest and cold.

"Tell me, do know about the Akatsuki?"

"Yeah, the terrorist organization that nearly destroyed the world five years ago, right? What about them?"

"Sasuke Uchiha once belonged to that organization."

The words shot Iroko like a gun. "What? Wait, what did you just say?"

"It's the truth," said Itsuki. "Five years ago, Sasuke Uchiha was a criminal who had defected from the Leaf Village and joined the Akatsuki in hunting down Tailed Beasts. You may not have known about it because the Leaf's officials from back then didn't want things to go out of control so they probably kept it secret from the majority of the public."

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"I'm what you would call.. popular

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Wait, is that what he meant? No, no, this doesn't make any sense! Wasn't it he and Naruto-sensei that had saved the ninja world five years ago? How could he have been apart of the organization that tried to destroy it?

"Still having doubts? Then what about the Uchiha Clan as a whole? Do you know their history?"

Iroko cleared his mouth before speaking. "I know about the Uchiha Massacre from History class.. That it was done by a man called Itachi Uchiha who was trying to stop them from starting a coup d'etat."

"That was Sasuke Uchiha's brother."

!!! "Huh?!"

"And if you back-track to 22 years ago, there was a man named Obito Uchiha who had enslaved the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox and nearly destroyed the Leaf Village with it, a close relative of Sasuke Uchiha."

"What are you getting at here?" Iroko demanded.

"The Curse of Hatred. It's a curse that affects most members of the Uchiha Clan, usually caused by a traumatic event, that causes them to abandon all goodness and turn to the shadows in order to achieve revenge or whatever evil plan they have in mind to get back at society. Sasuke Uchiha was affected by it, too, and because of that, he had gone on to commit some heinous crimes." Crimes that had gone on to ruin my life.

"Even so, that was five years ago!" Iroko countered. "Sasuke Uchiha is a good guy now! He's even got a wife and kid! Are you saying we should hold him responsible for his past mistakes?"

"No, that's not what this is about."

"Then what is it about?" Iroko was angry now. He did not want to have to feel this way towards Itsuki but in his eyes, he was practically attacking Sasuke.

He pointed at the blue-streaked boy. "It's about you, Iroko."

"Me?"

"The only reason why I had mentioned any of this was to give you an open mind. I wouldn't want him to influence you in the wrong way so if you want to get to the bottom of that you can always just ask him yourself but I am well aware he's a changed person now. Or would appear to be.

"The real reason I had brought him up was that I had wanted to confirm if he was your teacher or not. And now that I have you should know that my teacher, the one who's been helping me master my Mineral Style is the Fifth Kazekage."

Iroko's eyes widened. "Seriously?" It all makes sense now! That's why his jutsu felt so much like his!! So the name of his Kekkei Genkai is Mineral Style, huh?

"You don't seem that surprised," Itsuki noted. "I guess that means you had had your suspicions as well."

"Okay, but why are you telling me all of this?"

Itsuki looked down at his right hand before clenching it tightly. "I had a rough childhood, moreso during the years after the Fourth Great Ninja War. But it was the Fifth Kazekage that had helped me through them. Even after I had become acquainted with my teammates I still had the Kazekage at my back. Eventually, I came to realize that the reason was that he saw something in me that had reminded him of himself. Iroko, by any chance, was that the same reason why Sasuke Uchiha had agreed to train you? Or did it at least feel that way?"

Yeah, now that I think about it.. why did Sasuke-sensei agree to train me? I mean sure there was that whole walnut test but even after I had passed that, he still didn't agree to train me until I had answered his question: 'What's my reason for becoming a Ninja?'

Oh...

"Do you see now?"

...Unless he agreed with my reason he wouldn't have trained me. But how come he did agree? Why?

The only reason I can think of would be because it aligned with his.

"Both Sasuke and the Fifth Kazekage were at some point on dark paths, but it was Naruto Uzumaki who had turned that around and made them into who they are today. And because of that, they themselves had gone on to take on students who embodied those same ideals in the hopes that the next generation would learn from it. You and I, Iroko, are that next generation."

Itsuki raised himself from the wall and started walking out of the corridor, Iroko behind him. "My goal is to surpass the Fifth Kazekage and become the Sand's next hero, using this one Kekkei Genkai of mine, and this one only. And yours..."

"Yeah," Iroko said, "mine's pretty much the same. I think I get it now. That ideal that Naruto-sensei passed on is the ideal to reach for the top and become a beacon of hope in the eyes of others. And now that I know that's something you also believe in I finally understand why you said the two of us are alike."

"And since we're both aiming for the top, and we've both decided these Exams are our gateway to that," Itsuki continued, "I think we both know that there can only be one winner to the Single-Elimination."

"You're right," Iroko began to smile. I guess before we can be friends we'll have to be enemies first. "Well, if it's a declaration of war then so be it. Itsuki Miura, I will beat you."

The leaves that blew between them had masked Itsuki's smile. As he turned around to leave he said: "Then I'll see you at the Final Rounds."

"Hey, you're late!" Ena scolded Itsuki as he was just returning to his seat.

"Sorry, I had to use the washroom," he lied. "What's going on?"

Ena pointed to the arena. "Genzo's match came up. He's up against someone called Sayo Atsuhiro."

Itsuki looked to the arena and could see Genzo in a heated battle with the strawberry-blonde girl. It looked like the match had already been well underway for some time now.

"Well, I'm glad I haven't completely missed it," he said.

"Hey, so, um..." Ena began.

"Hm? What is it?"

She smiled crookedly. "No, it's nothing! It can wait until after the match, so let's just cheer Genzo on!"

"Sure."

The match had proven to be a spectacle for the crowd. Both Sayo Atsuhiro and Genzo Murakami were very talented and their techniques were something to behold.

But at the end of it, Sayo Atsuhiro had emerged as the winner. Amidst an arena swamped with a cloud of strange black dust, she held her katana high over her head while standing before a deflated and rag-dolled Genzo. Sayo herself was breathing harshly and her face was bruised. The crowd cheered them both on for a supposedly beautiful display of their prowess.

Sayo grinned widely at Genzo. "Thanks for the match, that was fun!!"

"Get away from me, you freak..." he replied wearily.

"Oh no, I can't believe he lost!" Ena whined.

"That must have been some match; his Iron Sand is everywhere," Itsuki observed. "Was that girl really that strong?"

"You should've seen her," said Ena. "Half of the time it didn't seem like she was actually using any ninja techniques. They were more samurai in nature. As far as I could tell, all her attacks had so much weight behind them. There wasn't a single wasted blow... But the weird thing is that I think she was fighting that hard more out of thrill than desperation."

"I see. In that case, I'll have to keep an eye out for her in the Finals."

"Oh, hey, look who finally came back from the washroom," Genzo came with a sultry look on his face.

"Hey, Genzo, you were great out there! Don't worry about it, okay? I'm sure we've already passed the Exams anyway," Ena tried to comfort him.

"Sorry I missed the majority of your match," said Itsuki, "but from what I saw I thought you fought well--"

"Save it, Tree-boy," Genzo slumped into his chair. "That was anything but a fair fight. I mean, who brings a whole katana into the arena?! She hardly fought like a girl!! (I wanted to fight Asami, too!)"

"Oh? And how exactly is a girl supposed to fight?" Ena asked with a closed-eye smile.

"Ah-- I-I mean, she just has monstrous tendencies, that's all!"

Itsuki looked over at where all the Leaf-rookies were sat. "The Leaf's genin are strong," he said. "Looks like this really will be harder than I thought."

Ena stared at him anxiously.

"Dude, Kazue, your cousin really is a force to be reckoned with, huh?" Daito remarked.

"What do you think?" he answered.

"I think you're family must be full of insanely strong people, just like your old ma--"

"Can it."

'So mean.. Oh, that's right, so now that Sayo's completed her match, the last of us genin that need to fight should just be you, Fumino, and Tensho!" He looked at the two girls with enthusiasm. "I wonder who you guys'll be paired against."

"If memory serves me right, there should only be one genin left in both the Sand and the Cloud teams," Fumino recalled, "so it will probably be one of them."

"And even if they're strong, you'll pull through just fine, won't you, Fumi-chan?" Tensho flattered her.

"You, too, Tensho! Let's both give it our all and go to the Finals!"

"You betcha!!"

For as long as I can remember, those two have been the best of friends, Daito thought. It was probably Fumino that had made the first move, 'cos Tensho didn't really have friends starting out but they had clicked just as fast. Yeah, Fumino could just about click with anyone (minus Kazue), she's our class's shining star, after all, but even I could tell that she held Tensho a notch above everyone else. They were just that close, a Hyuga and a Warai.

"ALRIGHT, RANDOMIZER, WHAT ARE THE NAMES FOR OUR SECOND-TO-LAST MATCH?!" said Guy.

Which is why... no one could have seen this coming...

日向 天象 VS 笑い 郁野

TENSHO HYUGA VS FUMINO WARAI

"Woah, did not see that coming!" Iroko expressed - as if voicing Daito's thoughts - right as he was returning.

"HA, HA, HA, HA!!!" Kazue suddenly burst out laughing. Their positive and supportive banters suddenly turned silent had left him gasping for air. "Holy [email protected]#!! Oh, don't mind me! What was it you were saying about fighting one of the Sand or Cloud dweebs? You two were cheering for each other to go all out, weren't you?"

"Uh..." For the first time, Tensho was unable to formulate a response.

From there, there were three words running through Iroko, Jin and Daito's minds: That's too far.

Suddenly Fumino stood from her seat. All the genin were silent. To their surprise, she was still smiling.

"Like I said," she spoke, looking at Tensho, "let's both do our best!!"

Kazue was no longer laughing.

Without another word, she left for the arena. In the corridor, she passed by Sayo who was waving at her.

"Yo, Fumino, you're up next, huh? Make sure to kill 'em dead, alright?!"

"Oh. Y-yes, thank you, Sayo!" She bowed awkwardly then took off.

"Wait, I didn't ask her who her opponent was," Sayo realized. "Ah, whatevs!! Oh, hey, Tensho!"

"Hey, sorry I can't talk, I'm on my way to a match. Congrats on yours, though!" Tensho said, passing by her.

"Thanks!! Good luck on yours -- waaaaiiiiiiit."

A quick overview on the Kekkei Genkai wielded by Fumino Warai: Blossom Style (花遁/Hanaton)

Blossom Style is a Kekkei Genkai that was formed from the merging of her father's clan's Kekkei Genkai, Floral Style, and an ancient Kekkei Genkai from the Haruno family that has been lost for a century. As a result, Blossom Style is exclusive to Fumino and Fumino only. It is composed of the chakra nature Earth Style and Yin Release and allows the wielder to generate, control, and manipulate the form of cherry blossom petals. While it bears similarities to the highly-coveted Magnet Style (as well as Sand-manipulation and Mineral Style to a lesser degree), Blossom Style has two factors that discern it from the jutsu.

The first is that Blossom Style can generate the cherry blossom petals from thin air. This is possible because of Yin Release, a nature-transformation that can create form from nothingness by utilizing one's spiritual energy. So whereas a user of Magnet Style would need to have a source material nearby at all times to utilize the jutsu, Fumino can create and utilize her Blossom Style whenever and wherever she so chooses. The second factor is that Blossom Style has another unique component as part of its arsenal. By applying nature transformation to the Yin Release, Fumino can use what is called Henkan (変換), where she changes the very nature of her Blossom Style for other purposes besides combat. The one downside to Blossom Style is that it requires large amounts of chakra to use effectively.

Tensho and Fumino were now both in the arena, waiting for Temari to give the go signal.

"So who do you think will win?" Iroko had proceeded to ask Daito.

"You want my honest opinion? I literally have no idea," he answered. "I mean, as much as I want to immediately take Fumino's side (and believe me, I want to) I can't deny that Tensho is straight-up scary in her own way, too. That Byakugan is a giant bundle of annoyance. Not to mention, Fumino told me that it's possible for her to learn the Mind Transfer jutsu."

"The Mind Transfer? Isn't that a jutsu from the Yamanaka clan?"

"Exactly. Tensho is from the Yamanaka clan as well, through her mom." Then Daito began to sulk. "Sheesh!! What's with everyone in this class having some sort of Kekkei Genkai or Hiden jutsu?!"

"You said it!" Iroko pouted with him. Still though, he thought, a match between members from some of the most powerful families in the Land of Fire. This fight is a must-see!

Just as Daito had predicted, many of the spectators were placing their bets on Tensho, simply because she was from the Hyuga clan, and some others moreso if they knew of her Yamanaka lineage as well. But just as many people were rooting for Fumino, most likely those who knew well the might of the Warai clan outside the Leaf, as well as her relation to Sakura Haruno. It was, perhaps, the most divided a crowd of spectators had been on deciding who would win.

"WELL, WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT!!" said Guy. "The Hyuga's always did know how to reign in a crowd, but fans of the Warai clan are just as heated!! Will this be the Fight for the Preliminaries?!"

Meanwhile, Kakashi felt a memory stir as he watched. Hyuga vs Warai... or Yamanaka vs Haruno. Interesting.

There would be no stopping the rampage as soon as Temari swung her hand down.

The pink markings on Fumino's cheeks became pronounced. All around her burst a swarm of cherry blossom petals, illuminating the arena in pink.

I'm sorry, Tensho. The truth is I hate that it's come to this, she monologued, You're my best friend and I wouldn't ever want anything to come between us. But I owe it to the two of them to keep fighting, because they're the reason I got this far. I can't throw in the towel now. I.. I have to get to the Finals!!

With swift but articulate gestures of her hands, she controlled the flow of the petals and launched them at Tensho, who evaded them just by the skin of her teeth. In fact, she was only able to do so because she had predicted such an attack. She smiled.

Then it was Tensho's turn. Exerting immense force from the calves of her legs, she dashed right past the petals, with speed that almost rivaled Iroko's. Fumino was thrown off her balance when Tensho emerged right in front of her. Her eyes - that greenish-blue colour - now turned almost white with veins bulging around them, her hands already shaped in the Gentle Palm fashion.

"I know exactly what you're thinking," she said in a low voice. "Let's just fight, alright?"

Beneath her feet an imaginary, but massive Bagua symbol manifested and encapsulated both Tensho and Fumino.

"Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms!!!"

She let her palm rip through the air at Fumino's shoulder. She dodged it with the faintest of parries. Tensho released a flurry of palms, all of which Fumino managed to evade with grace and elegance to her movements.

Tensho's smile turned into a grin. "That's it!! Let's do this, Fumi-chan!!!"

She raised and shot out two palms at the same time. Fumino gathered her petals together at the last second and blocked it. The impact created a thunderous sound as Fumino was pelted across the arena; but she had somersaulted through the air and landed on her feet, her blonde hair flowing like a mane.

"Holy crap, Tensho's not pulling any punches!!" Iroko exclaimed. "And not only that, but it looked like Fumino was able to dodge all those Gentle Fist attacks!!"

Kazue crossed his eyebrows in annoyance. "How?" In his head, even he knew he wouldn't have been able to avoid those palms at such close quarters. Tensho was, after all, the best taijutsu practitioner in their class.

"That's probably got to do with Fumino's Shorinji Style," Daito answered.

Iroko, Kazue (and Asami) looked at him. "Shorinji? What is that?" asked the blue-streaked boy.

For all his stupidity, Daito at least knew that for Fumino's sake he could not directly answer that.

"Let's just say it's a type of taijutsu that Fumino knows," he replied with a smile, flashing those teeth of his.

Behind them, Jin was trembling with anxiety.

"All that confidence and optimism from earlier, I hope it wasn't for show," Tensho said to Fumino. "You've always been the most positive person in our class so don't let me down now!"

Fumino smiled. "Right!" She wove her hand seals together. "Blossom Style: Garden of--"

Tensho flung at her chakra-filled shuriken, forcing her to halt the jutsu. The Hyuga used that opportunity to dash at her.

Of course, she's going to try to stop me from using Garden of Bliss! Fumino realized.

Tensho leaped into the air and came down at her with a powerful dropkick that cracked the ground after it missed Fumino but she did not stop her onslaught there. Charging her fists with her signature green chakra, what followed was a ruthless clash of petals, Gentle Fists and impressive taijutsu techniques.

The crowd marveled at the fluidity of Fumino's fighting style. It was as if she was using Tensho's own strength and force to parry the blows and knowing exactly when and where to strike. At some point, Tensho had made a slip with one Palm attack and Fumino took that chance to grab her by the arm and spin her, body whole, across the ground.

"Not to imply anything, but you probably wouldn't expect someone as dainty-looking as Fumino to be as strong as she is," said Baku.

"Maybe not, but we are ninja," said Iroko, "so we've gotta be strong, whatever it takes!"

"Alright then, time to try something new," said Tensho, suddenly spinning around. "Eight Trigrams: Palm Rotation!!"

The spectators gasped in awe at this technique, including Hyugas from the main branch.

By creating the sphere of rotation, a fierce wind was summoned in the stadium and swiftly afterward, large hails of dust began to cover the entire arena.

"Oh no! She's creating a dust storm!!" Fumino realized, before having to cover her eyes from the hail.

"That's right," Tensho grinned. "In a dust storm this huge you're bound to have limited vision, but for someone with the Byakugan, it's a piece of cake!!"

"WHAT A CLEVER MOVE FROM TENSHO HYUGA!!!" said Guy. "HOW WILL FUMINO COUNTER AGAINST THIS ONE?"

"Yeesh, you're super annoying!" Tensho grunted to herself.

Fumino struggled to open her eyes in the midst of the dusty shroud surrounding her. Even if she was able to avoid getting dust in them her visibility had still been significantly reduced; she could not see within ten feet in front of her.

Wow, what a veil!! She's trying to utilize her Byakugan to its fullest extent while leaving me disabled. Amazing, Tensho! However, don't forget I've still got my ears!!

She shut her eyes completely and stood as still as a rock. Then she heard the ground shake. A succession of footsteps rapidly approaching from her left made her ears prick.

"Got you!!" Fumino sent a surge of petals in said direction. The approaching figure divulged and disappeared from their path. Fumino retracted her petals and waited once more.

This time she could hear them approaching again from the back. She swerved around just in time to dodge a spinning roundhouse kick to the head. The petals reacted almost immediately and shot at Tensho but she had dispersed into smoke soon after.

A Clone! In that case-- She dispersed her petals across the whole area, intending on stopping her approach before she could reach her. But then, Tensho burst into a flash-step and jumped into Fumino's front.

What? No way!!!

The Hyuga princess shaped her hand into the palm position and aimed square at Fumino's left shoulder. She let out a yelp that was loud enough to let the crowd know what had just happened.

"Oh no, Fumino!!!" Daito cried.

"Ha, so she finally got a hit, huh?" Kazue grinned.

Tensho next took aim at Fumino's right shoulder but before she could properly land the hit, Fumino locked her hands together; her Blossom Style came between the two of them and took her out of the Hyuga's vicinity.

"Retreating, huh? You won't get far!!" Tensho dashed after her.

The petals carried Fumino across the arena but only by a short distance. She could not mold her chakra properly to control them for long. I was careless, Fumino thought. I should have known she'd find some way to bypass my counter even if I listened in for her. She clutched her left shoulder. I can't feel the chakra circulating there. I suppose that means my tenketsu has been blocked. At this rate...

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"Right, Yohei got us through the Written Test, Daito the Forest of Death - I suppose it's my turn to prove myself to this Team!!"

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That's right. I'm our last hope, aren't I. Giving up isn't an option, because they need me! So chin up!! She got back on her feet and slapped her cheeks red. Then she gave a great, big, beaming smile. After all, the joy of the heart is shinobi's strength!!!

As Tensho was less than 20 metres away, the unexpected happen: All at once, a huge influx of cherry blossom petals started gathering together at one area, like flowing streams of pink. There was enough force behind her to start shifting the dust.

Woah, doesn't she need a lot of chakra to summon that many? Tensho wondered with rising worry.

She was starting to see Fumino clearly without the need for her Byakugan as the dust began to clear. She was wearing a gleeful smile as she stared back directly at Tensho.

Man, that smile is super contagious, you know that? The redhead grinned. But you've always been like that. Instead of looking frightened or angry, you just smile!! The smile of an amazing person. That's what made me realize, all those years ago, that you're someone I absolutely HAVE to beat one day in the future!! Thanks for reminding me about that!!

She stomped her foot on the ground, creating another massive Bagua symbol, and propelled herself at her.

Fumino cried: "Blossom Style: Whirling Spring!!!"

"Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms!!!"

🍃🍃🍃🍃🍃🍃🍃🍃🍃🍃🍃At the same time🍃🍃🍃🍃🍃🍃🍃🍃🍃🍃🍃🍃🍃

Hisao approached Issun-boshi in a spectator's room as he was sipping on his green leaf while watching the match on the TV there.

"Apologies for the intrusion," he bowed.

"No harm done," said the dwarf. "Did you come to join me for some green leaf?"

"Perhaps later."

He sat down beside him and looked at the TV. A moment later he spoke again. "I thought it best to inform you that I had seen Yohei Namaki at the clinic while I was visiting my student."

"Oh?"

"According to what your other student, Fumino Warai, said she had seen, he had apparently fallen on the stairs and that had resulted in a head concussion.

"Well, sir, I had had his wound analyzed and discovered the fingerprints of another lifeform on it."

"Your point, Hisao?"

"What had happened to Yohei Namaki was not self-inflicted nor was it an accident," he looked down at the old man. "Your student was attacked."

Issun-boshi's eyelids lifted.

"Furthermore, I have reason to believe that the culprit is the individual who had recently infiltrated the Leaf. Would you like to help me track him down?"